"Chris Skelton, step forward."
The boy is shaking in his blazer and tie, but he does what the teacher says. "Report to the headmaster immediately for disciplinary action."
"Yessir," he mumbles.
The worst part isn't the caning he gets. It's his classmates. They won't look at him. No one will look at him, not even Charlotte, his best friend, the one who makes sure he doesn't mess up the spelling in his English revisions.
He's a Thief, and that's lower than a person. No one knows he would never have done it if Charlie Brooks hadn't cornered him and scared him into it. Chris doesn't rat him out. That's none of his business. He's done what he's accused of, anyway. He deserves what he gets.
At home that night, his father's hard slap across his face isn't the worst part. The worst part is that his father won't look at him. "You're worthless, Boy," he yells as he locks him in his room, "You don't deserve to be my son."
DC Chris Skelton gets up from his desk and tries to square his shoulders. Truth is, he's never been very good at squaring them. Inwardly, he's shaking like a leaf. He doesn't want to go into that office, that room where the Guv awaits him behind the wide desk. He doesn't want what he has coming.
None of the rest of it matters. Even if he goes to jail, he thinks, it won't be any worse than facing this. It won't be worse than the Guv looking past him, refusing to see him because he's less than a person now. Everything he's tried to be, the man he's tried so hard to become, it's all gone now.
He steps forward, because he has to. You have to step forward when it's time.
For a long moment, Chris just stares at his ID on the desk without looking up. He's too scared to bear the weight of the Guv's rejection. He starts to speak, because he doesn't know if he'll be able to once he's seen the Guv's face. But as he looks up, he gets the surprise of his life.
The Guv is looking at him. The Guv sees him, just like he always has.
Chris takes it all in, the acknowledgment of the crime, the punishment, the disappointment on the Guv's face. But you can't be disappointed in someone who's worthless. And the Guv doesn't stop looking him in the eyes with the respect of a man.
That's how Chris can stand it when they all get up and leave without looking at him. He can bear it because he remembers how he felt when the Guv's eyes were on him, and he holds on.
After Chris has cried for ages, muffling his sobs in his pillow, he hears a knock at his bedroom door, and his mum comes inside, sitting next to him on the bed.
"Oh, Christopher," she says quietly, wiping his cheek with her hand.
She wraps her arms around him, and he feels warm. He leans into her shoulder and she holds him for a long time. Finally, she whispers, "What you did is wrong, lad, but I'll always love you."
They all leave one by one, even Shaz. She pushes past him, her hurt on her face. She doesn't give him a single glance.
The only one left is DI Drake, sitting and staring at the papers on her desk, as if she's in some other world. Chris knows he could leave, but he stays. It's his penance. He will be the last one. He will wait until they've all had a chance to shun him.
Ages go by, and DI Drake finally leans over to get her purse. "Come on, Chris," she says, "time to go home."
They walk out together, shoulder to shoulder. DI Drake says nothing and stares into the distance the way she usually does. No one ever knows what she's thinking. Well, Chris thinks, maybe the others do. But he never does.
At the door, Chris isn't sure what to say, so he turns to go his way home without saying anything. Before he can get more than a couple of steps, DI Drake stops him. To his astonishment, she wraps her arms around him and hugs him. Like a mum.
"Tomorrow is another day, Chris," she breathes into his ear and then walks away without looking back.